


Thick as Thieves

by dendraica



Category: Dragons: Race to the Edge, How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Bromance, Established Relationship, M/M, Prompt: "Its not what you think!", httyd rare-pair challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2016-11-05
Packaged: 2018-08-29 06:44:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8479261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dendraica/pseuds/dendraica
Summary: What did even they think they were playing at? Did they think Snotlout didn't know or something? This Jorgenson wasn't born yesterday, no sir - he recognized a hostile best friend take-over when he saw one!





	

It wasn’t that he was jealous.

Okay, that was totally a lie.

Snotlout _was_ jealous, and he had every reason to be. Dagur was awesome and everything, but since he had just miraculously ‘come back from the dead’, everyone was practically _fawning_ over him.

Well, everyone except Heather, because she was angry and sad and confused (and he was there for her, truly, any time she wanted to come by his hut), but Dagur being the center of everyone’s attention wasn’t the big problem.

Dagur being the center of Tuffnut’s attention, however . . . _that_ was.

His _supposed_ best friend was **obsessed** with the guy, always chasing after him, always asking his advice for how to use this or that massively destructive weapon. He seemed to find any and every excuse in the book to just talk to Dagur, no matter how inane or pointless the topic.

Even if he and Tuff were mid-conversation – if _Dagur_ happened to show up? Well, Snotlout might as well have been having a discourse with himself about the best tactic for lobbing dragon-boogers at Fishlegs from a safe distance.

Because Tuff was mentally gone as soon as Dagur arrived on the scene, staring at the Berserker like he was Loki-incarnate or something. Honestly, Dagur was no better - always smiling at him, winking at him, making time to talk to him.

What did even they think they were playing at? Did they think Snotlout didn't know or something? This Jorgenson wasn't born yesterday, no sir - he recognized a hostile best friend take-over when he saw one.

"I can't believe them," he snarked out loud, crossing his arms. Dinner was nearly over, and Tuff had sat with Dagur all night, telling him jokes that had the Berserker nearly choking on his yakchops from mirth. "Ugh, they're disgusting."

"Hey, what's your problem exactly?" Ruff asked, raising an eyebrow. At least she was listening to him. The others were watching her brother and Dagur with amusement, or trying to awkwardly ignore them.

"Are you kidding me? How do you _not_ see my problem?! It's got red hair, a deranged laugh, and it's moving in on MY territory!"

Hiccup looked up from his meal and frowned. "Snotlout, what's wrong? I thought you liked Dagur."

"Yeah, I DID. Before he went and completely stole Tuffnut from me! I'M supposed to be the best friend here! ME! Not some burly, former psychopath!" Snotlout banged the table for emphasis.

There was a long awkward pause, broken by Astrid snickering.

"Okay, I'm not explaining this one," she laughed.

"Snotlout, even if that _was_ . . . what was going on, you know people can have more than one best friend, right?" Fishlegs supplied, trying to be helpful.

He looked to Heather for support, but she shook her head and drank out of her mug, not really wanting any part of this discussion.

"No they CAN'T have two best friends, Fishlegs! Because then it would be called **BETTER** friends, not **BEST** friends! There can be only **ONE**!"

Snotlout hadn't bothered to lower his tone at all, and jumped when Tuff cleared his throat just to the left of him. Dagur had remained seated, a quizzical expression on his face.

Never one to show embarrassment, Snotlout stood up and got right in Tuff's face. "Yeah, I'm talking about you! What are you gonna do about it you . . . you two-timing _cheater_!?"

Astrid abruptly choked on her elderberry juice and had to turn away to muffle her laughter, as Hiccup groaned.

Tuff's eyebrows rose up slowly, until they disappeared beneath the brim of his helmet. "Uh . . . _okay_. So. We clearly need to talk."

Snotlout went from aggressive to alarmed. "Those aren't good words, usually. Why . . . Why do we need to talk? Are you . . ."

There was a sudden lump in his throat. Of course - he'd pushed too hard, overplayed his hand, and now Tuff was realizing Dagur was the better best friend and he was going to dump him - _him_ , Snotlout!

How humiliating - he'd never been dumped . . . not officially. Just rejected. Somehow _this_ felt so much worse.

"Come on," Tuff sighed, sharing a knowing gaze with his twin. "My sis is right, I should have told you way sooner."

Snotlout followed him out of the clubhouse forlornly, and scowled as Tuff passed Dagur. The twin lightly traced a hand across the Berserker's shoulders and Dagur smiled after him fondly - completely unperturbed by the death glare he received from Snotlout.

Tuffnut turned to face him once they were outside. "Okay, first of all, sorry for not telling you right away. I kinda got caught up in this whole thing - sorta like a whirlwind - it just happened so fast. Ruff said I need to be gentle and honest and maybe just a little blunt instead of beating around the bush . . . or stalling . . . like I'm probably doing right now without meaning to. Because you might not be okay with this . . . phew, sorry, I'm just really nervous . . . Do you need to hold Chicken? Would that make you feel better?"

If anything, Tuff seemed like the one who needed to hold on to the overly-affectionate bundle of feathers, but Snotlout couldn't tell through all this _annoying_ _moisture_ in his eyes.

"Just get on with it already," he gritted out.

"Right. Sorry." Tuffnut took a deep breath. "Okay, so I'm actually in love," he forced out.

Snotlout had opened his mouth to numbly accept the formal disbanding of the only close friendship he'd ever had, but at those words he shut his jaw with a snap. "You're _what_?"

"In love. With a boy. A man, technically, though he can act boyish at times. One of the things I really lo-like about him - and I totally didn't expect it to happen, because I didn't know, so _please_ _don't_ _freak_ _out_!" Tuff flinched expectantly.

Snotlout's brain was whirring.

The shorter boy blinked, and he squinted at Tuff. "You're . . . _not_ ditching me to trade up for a clearly more awesome best friend?" Because as much as he hated to admit it, Dagur was definitely cooler.

That was his first thought anyway, and then Snotlout remembered the fond looks between the pair, the excessive gazing, the way Tuff had slid his fingers across Dagur's back as though unable to keep from touching him.

Snotlout **screeched**.

"Oh no, no, _please_ -" Tuff wailed, looking utterly distraught at his friend's seemingly repulsed reaction, until he was suddenly bear hugged around the middle and lifted clear off his feet.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! You two are . . . ?? This is SO **AWESOME**! AAAAAAAHHHH!"

"AAAAAAHHH - wait, is this good screaming or bad screaming? I can't really tell," the twin fretted.

"WHEN?! DID THIS HAPPEN!?"

Tuffnut's expression finally relaxed and he went limp with relief in his best friend's embrace. "Ohhh, thank Loki. Actually, last week. I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to avoid you, or ignore you, it was just . . . I wasn't sure about it and then when I was, I didn't know how to tell anyone. It was all so overwhelming. You're actually the first person I told."

Snotlout chest swelled with happiness and pride. "Wait, even before Ruffnut?"

"Well, no, but only because she figured it out first and beat the confession out of me. First person I told _willingly_. I didn't know if you would be cool about it."

"Are you kidding? Well, okay, we both know our _dads_ wouldn't be cool. What are you going to do? Run away? Live on Berserk? If your dad gets awful, you could crash in my basement, you'll just have to use the window to get in and out."

Tuff's smile, which had started small, was wide with affection and happiness now at this show of support.

"I'm sure if _either_ of your fathers 'get awful', they'll be getting a few knocks on their doors. Maybe their heads too," a voice said from the doorway.

"Ah-ah, _mister_ , no threatening family members before you even meet them. That's a rule, remember?" Tuffnut's tone held only warmth as he admonished Dagur, who was leaning casually against the doorframe. He leaned in to lightly kiss the Berserker's lips and was immediately pulled in for a better one.

Snotlout crossed his arms, smirking. "Hey, Dagur. You _better_ get him that arrow-launcher for Snoggletogg," he threatened vaguely, more as an effort to make amends for his earlier hostility. “Tuff deserves it.”

"Maybe I will, if you could please stop _spoiling_ any chance of _surprising_ him?" Dagur retorted good-naturedly. He winked at Snotlout, and turned his attention back to Tuff who was bouncing on the balls of his feet like an excited puppy. "Great. Now look what you did. Babe, forget what you just heard about Snoggletogg. All of it. I mean it!"

Snotlout snickered and followed them back to the clubhouse. "Don't worry, he will. Just give him something shiny and dangerous for five minutes." Tuff jostled him playfully, trying to get him into a headlock.

He let him win, in a good mood and utterly elated that this hadn't gone at all the way he'd been fearing. Tuff leaned in close suddenly and gave Snotlout an awkward but affectionate side-hug. "Thanks," he whispered. "For having my back. I should've known I had nothing to be afraid of."

Snotlout shrugged and grinned as Tuff ran ahead to catch up with his boyfriend.

Honestly? He should've known the exact same thing.


End file.
